Household economic wellbeing (particularly in relation to measures of income and wealth) may be influenced by a range of socioeconomic factors. For example, a person's inability to work, differences in consumption and investment behaviours, variation in family and life circumstances, and the capacity of individuals to manage all these factors will all impact on the household's economic wellbeing.

There are several population groups that appear to be more likely to have low household economic wellbeing than the population as a whole. Examples of groups at risk include one parent families, older Australians, income support recipients and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.